Among the latest reports is the LA Times' story that the US Government has ordered all libraries in the country to destroy countless government records and publications deemed to pose a "security threat"; librarians are to preserve only a shard of each CD-ROM as evidence of the destruction. See also VAN's timeline to keep track of the assault on civil liberties by the court-imposed Bush regime.

According to the US DOJ, a majority of the 1000+ post-9/11 detainees remain jailed. US citizen Tarek Abdelhamid Albasti, for instance, was taken away from his Evansville, IN, restaurant with his uncle and 7 other Muslim men after FBI agents showed up to inquire about his political beliefs and the flying lessons he had been given as a birthday present. The 9 men were flown to Chicago in shackles on a U.S. Marshal's Service jet. Albasti was eventually released after staging a hunger strike. Meanwhile, Mustafa Abu Jdai from Tyler, TX, remains in a Dallas jail after he and his wife, trying to help investigators, called the FBI's 800 tipline on 9/13. Abu Jdai answered a question "incorrectly" during an FBI polygraph test, was charged with a visa violation, and now faces indefinite detention.

Oct 26: President Bush signed USA PATRIOT Act (H.R.3162) into law on Friday, marking a new, draconian era in the civil rights legislation in the US. Passed in the House the USA Patriot Act (HR 3162) by a vote of 357 to 66, and the Senate 98 to 1, the bill gives enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch which will be unchecked by meaningful judicial review. The ACLU has called the rushed legislative process "deeply flawed," and has outlined the impact that the bill will have on civil liberties and personal freedom. ACLU Chart

The bill grants the government extensive surveillance powers and the ability to detain US residents and immigrants with no judicial process or other oversight (beyond what it could already do). Read FAIR's reports on how the corporate media hasn't given this bill the coverage it demands. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had issued an action alert regarding the original proposed legislation, along with related legislation (presently 3 bills, including the Public Safety and Cyber Security Enhancement Act, PSCSEA).

On Oct 11, the EFF held a Forum on Civil Liberties at the SF Public Library (read their response to pro-surveillance criticism and learn 12 ways to protect your online privacy).

In an example of how the new laws will be used to punish suspected "terrorists," Long Island activist Connor Cash was officially charged with "providing material support to terrorists," in connection with property damage claimed by the Earth Liberation Front on Long Island late last year.

On Sept 13, the US Senate passed the Combating Terrorism Act of 2001 giving the police and FBI sweeping new powers of surveillance, and the FBI immediately began visiting ISP?s requesting that they install Carnivore. In efforts to expand its spying powers even more, the FBI is reportedly developing new surveillance architecture, which would allow more insidious snooping. Some believe 'electronic martial law' is the natural next step. Contact your own legislators to demand that they respect the all people's civil liberties.

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